OverDressed for Life

Today OverDressedforLife has a guest post by Natalie Murray, who has just published her first Young Adult novel Emmie and the Tudor King.

Natalie is sharing with us the continuing influence of Tutor fashion.

Here’s Natalie …

Fashion isn’t typically a first thought when someone mentions the Tudors. Beheadings or high treason, anyone? However, the sixteenth-century Tudor court was not just a place where the king or queen might make you a head shorter; it was an haute couture catwalk for the English upper classes, with many trends lingering today. Here are six Tudor staples influencing fashion in 2019, from volume dresses to boxy toes:

1. Bold is beautiful. Cashed-up ladies in Tudor England exhibited their status through elaborately embellished frocks with plenty of layers. While hidden fabrics were typically left plain to save money, any visible part of a bodice or skirt was usually made from expensive fabric and richly decorated with everything from jewels to ribbons, feathers and lace. This theatrical aesthetic has graced the 2019 collections of Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Chanel—and many more—with voluminous skirts, extravagant detailing, and layers of romantic ruffles.

Puffy sleeves by Ronald van der Kemp, spring ’19. Photo: Allesandro Viero.

2. Statement sleeves. With arms always covered during the pious Tudor era, the rich and royal had fun with inventive sleeves that were slashed, puffed, tied, and even embroidered with secret messages. From Alexander McQueen to Balenciaga, Loewe to Rodarte, this year’s spring and fall catwalks presented dramatic feature sleeves including ruffled, trumpet, rounded, puffed, and decorated with fanciful motifs.

3. Pictures and patterns. Tudor nobles adorned themselves with illustrations of the natural world, hunting scenes, mythical creatures, food varieties, and even their own initials. Fashion in 2019 has embraced motifs—particularly florals—evident in the embroideries and prints used by Valentino, Chanel, Maison Margiela, Alexis Mabille, and more. Iconography in fashion is no more OTT now than it was four hundred years ago.

4. Ruff around the edges. Synonymous with the chicest women and men of Queen Elizabeth I’s court, the Elizabethan ruff is enjoying a renaissance. Sprouting from necklines across this season’s spring and fall catwalks, the likes of Chanel, Valentino, Givenchy, Giambattista Valli, Christian Dior, and Schiaparelli, are proving that the ruff still rules.

5. Beneath the hood. Married women covered much of their hair during the Tudor period, and King Henry VIII’s six wives can be expressed through a tale of hoods: Catherine of Aragon wore the English gable hood with its conservative triangular frame, Anne Boleyn preferred the more modern crescent-shaped French hood, and Jane Seymour reverted back to the English hood as a strategic shunning of Anne Boleyn’s image. Designers bringing back head coverings this year include Marc Jacobs, Rodarte, Armani Prive, and Christian Dior.

Square toe is making a comeback in fall ’19. Roberto Cavalli. Photo: Filippo Fior.

6. Square steps. While there isn’t a great deal of evidence about Tudor footwear, it’s believed that both men and women of the earlier sixteenth century favored square-toe slippers cut low to the ankle. This look is seen cushioning the tootsies of King Henry VIII in his famous portrait by Hans Holbein. This year, we’re seeing a square-toe revival in the form of winter boots at Eckhaus Latta, high-heeled boots at Roberto Cavalli, and pumps at Erdem.

Thanks, Natalie and congratulations on the publication of your first YA novel. I love this Tudor influence. I am particularly looking forward to “pictures and patterns” in fall ’19. 

Readers, check out Emmie and the Tudor King, Literary Crush Publishing. Great summer reading.